


you're not old (and you're not familiar)

by damerons (noblydonedonnanoble)



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: (spoiler alert: he's into 1 [one] musician), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Rock Band, F/F, Finn could NEVER be into a musician, M/M, Multi, no way never not him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:41:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28291050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noblydonedonnanoble/pseuds/damerons
Summary: Rose is dating the drummer of a local ska band called Black Squadron. Finn finds himself dragged to the show.
Relationships: Finn & Rose Tico, Jessika Pava/Rose Tico, Poe Dameron/Finn
Comments: 6
Kudos: 62





	you're not old (and you're not familiar)

**Author's Note:**

> Look, one second I was looking at the picture of Oscar's ska band that's been circling social media (google if you haven't seen, it's well worth a look), and then the next I was opening up a word document to write this.

“Rose, don’t even ask. I’ve told you a thousand times: I’m tired of being your beard at gigs.”

The young woman’s features scrunched up into a particularly exasperated frown. “How did you know that I wanted you to come to a show?”

Finn didn’t even look up; his focus was alternating between his computer and his battered copy of _Their Eyes Were Watching God_ , from which he was copying a quote for his English paper. When he spoke, it was matter-of-fact, indifferent. “You asked me whether I have plans tonight. You only do that when you want me to go to a show. Otherwise you just tell me what we’re doing.”

“Damn, now I gotta figure out a different way to soften you up.” Rose rested her head on Finn’s shoulder. “Please, Finn? I’m almost positive that I’ll be able to seal the deal with Jess if I can just get to one of her gigs. I just don’t want to deal with guys hitting on me in the meantime.”

He grimaced at his keyboard. “Make Rey go with you.”

“That won’t really resolve the ‘guys hitting on me’ problem.” She paused. “And she has a study session tonight, so she can’t.”

“Lucky her…” Finn muttered.

At this point, he already knew that he was probably going to agree to go. But he turned his book over to set it aside, shifting his body so that he could look at Rose in the chair beside him. “Can you make it worth my while?”

“I’ll buy the first round.”

Pause. “What kind of band did you say she’s in, again?”

Rose’s immediate hesitation was enough to tell him that he wasn’t going to like the answer. And indeed: “Ska.”

“Rose.”

“You like ska!”

“No, I like No Doubt. I like the Bosstones and Five Iron Frenzy. I don’t like ska when kids decide they can _sound like_ those guys just because they and their friends have taken a few lessons at Guitar Center and one of them conveniently still has a trombone or saxophone from high school marching band.”

They stared at each other for a few beats, seemingly waiting for the other person to acquiesce.

It was an indication of how much Rose wanted to get laid, perhaps, that Finn won. “Fine, I’ll pay your whole tab.”

Still, he had everything to gain here and nothing to lose, so he was slow in giving her any confirmation. But finally, he rolled his eyes and sighed. “That’s gonna include some fries. Maybe wings, if I’m particularly hungry.”

“I love you,” Rose told him affectionately, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek. “I think you’re going to be surprised tonight, Finn. Jess brought me to a few of their rehearsals and—” She paused. Something in her eyes made Finn… not nervous that he agreed, but just the _slightest_ bit concerned. “They’re something else.”

“Can’t wait to be completely underwhelmed.”

* * *

Here was the other problem with the musicians Rose dated—they were always in bands that were _just popular enough_ on the local scene that they thought they were hot shit.

Admittedly, Rose tended to find the humble ones. She liked drummers and bassists best, and most of them were the only woman in their bands, so they’d developed thick skin and put up with enough egos to not have one themselves.

But in their four years at school together, Finn had long since grown tired of sitting over drinks with the assholes who Rose _wasn’t_ dating. Sometimes it was because they spent the whole time fishing for compliments on their set; sometimes they just couldn’t shut up about instrument techniques; sometimes they were fucking weird and fetishistic about Rose and whoever her girlfriend was at the time as soon as the women left the room.

(And okay, maybe Finn had gotten into one or two fights with those guys when he was particularly wasted. Rose didn’t like it, but she didn’t tell him to stop, either.)

So when Rose dragged him into some dive and he saw the poster at the door – “Black Squadron: Saturday, November 19, 11PM” – he was more than a little exasperated.

“You promised it wasn’t a late show!”

She flinched. “Jess wanted to hang beforehand.”

They honest-to-God had about two and a half hours to kill before the concert. Rose flirting away while Finn dealt with the hot shit bandmates.

* * *

Alright. Maybe these guys were… moderately alright.

Jess wasn’t the only woman, for starters. Their trombonist, Karé, gave off the impression of being slightly irritable at all times. Her boyfriend Wexley (“but everyone in the band calls me Snap” he told Finn, as though his friendship with Rose was enough to make him, too, worthy of using the nickname) was the bassist, and each time he so much as smiled at Karé, she softened. Their saxophonist rushed in nearly half an hour after everyone else arrived, apologizing for having car troubles in between breathlessly introducing himself to Finn as Oddy. From the way the other band members reacted, he drove a piece of junk that was barely fit to be scrap metal.

All of them felt so… normal.

Somewhere around 10, Snap glanced down at his pager. “Has anyone heard from Poe? I know he said that he’ll be cutting it close tonight, but usually he gives an ETA.”

Each member of the band looked at their own pagers as well. Jess said, “Oh, me this time. ‘Soundcheck without me, test ran late.’”

“Jesus. This semester cannot end fast enough.” Karé realized belatedly that Finn was staring blankly between them all, and she rushed to explain. “Poe goes to school in the city. He got stuck with an evening class that’s really put a damper on our gig opportunities.”

“I keep saying we should kick him out…” Jess murmured. The extent of her eyeroll told Finn that it was probably insincere.

“We’re not kicking him out just because his major is shitty,” Snap retorted. Then, almost as an afterthought, he added, “Also, I really don’t think we could find a better guitarist.”

Rose tilted her head at them all. “What is he studying, again?”

“Aerospace engineering.”

“Interesting.” Rose nodded thoughtfully.

Finn did not miss the way that her eyes lingered on him from across the table. He sighed heavily and rose from his seat, announcing, “I think I’m ready for another beer. I’ll be back.”

He stood watching the bartender fill his glass – he’d ordered the good stuff, because now that he knew what Rose was up to, he needed to be tipsier or she was going to get a piece of his mind – when Rose appeared at his side.

Okay. Then she was going to get a piece of his mind anyway.

“It’s not what it looks like.”

Finn cocked an eyebrow at her. “Is he gay?”

She grimaced. “I’m not positive? But if he’s not into guys I would be _stunned_. I don’t think I can stress enough how stunned I would be.”

“Not all of us want to date musicians. Which I’ve told you every other time you’ve tried to set me up with a girl’s bandmate.”

Rose settled her hand on her hip. She gazed up at him sternly. “You’ve met the rest of Black Squadron and you like _them_ well enough. Don’t bother arguing, you know I can tell.”

“Oh my God, is that why we got here so early? So that you could trick me into liking them?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” His friend let out a laugh. “I wanted to see Jess before the show. If I knew that you would probably hit it off with all of them… it was just an added bonus.”

Two glasses of beer were placed in front of Finn on the bar, and mutely, he handed the extra to her. “I don’t like musicians, Rose,” he told her. “I sure as hell don’t like _ska guitarists_.”

* * *

Eventually, the members of Black Squadron left Finn and Rose to do their soundcheck, and then to warm up out back behind the bar.

“You’re not going to go with them?” Finn asked. Rose didn’t always tag along to band warm-ups, but usually when she liked a girl as much as she clearly liked Jess, she did. Finn saw the way they seemed reluctant to let go of each other’s hand when Jess got out of her seat; the way that Rose watched after her and Jess looked back and smiled. The way that Jess couldn’t stop looking at Rose while they were completing the soundcheck.

“Nah, I don’t want to distract her.”

Finn squinted at her, and finally, in sheer disbelief, he said, “You _actually_ like her.” She liked Jess enough that she didn’t just want Finn to tag along so that she could get laid; she wanted to make a good impression on the rest of the band. By respecting their time before the gig. By introducing them to her best friend.

“So what if I do?” Rose curled her fingers together, then unfurled them again almost at once. Finn couldn’t believe that he hadn’t picked up on her nerves before now.

“I don’t know.”

Maybe, just maybe, it made him wonder about this aerospace engineer guitarist. Because most of the guys she tried to set him up with were clearly meant to be short-lived flings, if not one-night stands. If she _liked_ Jess, really liked her…

Well. She’d never tried to set Finn up with someone when there was so much to lose.

* * *

So Finn hated amateur ska bands.

But damn, did he hate amateur ska band _fans_ even more.

He and Rose were squished against the stage, close enough to the speaker that, in the back of his mind, he could just hear the PSA warning his entire generation about probable hearing loss. Nearly every person within a touchable radius was holding a glass of beer, despite the fact that each of them would be bouncing and jumping within minutes.

Finn never got home more covered in beer than on the nights when Rose dragged him to hear ska.

In particular, his eye was on a drunk couple who seemed to be standing only by virtue of mutual support. He suspected that if one of them fell over, the other would follow.

“Remind me why I’m here,” he said into Rose’s ear. He nearly had to shout to be heard over the pre-show music.

“Because you love me!”

“How stupid of me,” he shouted back.

“Stupid for forgetting or stupid for loving me?”

“I’m undecided.”

Rose nodded toward the far side of the stage almost as soon as he spoke. “Take a moment to figure it out.”

Finn didn’t understand, at first, what Rose was pointing out to him. All he could see was the other half of the sound system, blocking the view of the unlit area beside the elevated stage. Then he realized that the band was coming out to play, and _oh_.

The aerospace engineer guitarist was in the middle of laughing at something Snap had said, looking back at his bandmate instead of forward at the crowd as they situated themselves on the stage. Out of the corner of his eye, Finn saw Jess give Rose a small wave after she sat down at the drums, and saw Rose wave back, but his focus was almost entirely on what came next—the aerospace engineer guitarist followed Jess’s gaze to Rose, and a moment later, his eyes met Finn’s.

Well then.

Poe had a fair amount of stubble across his face, and Finn couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t on purpose—that perhaps he’d been in a rush that morning and hadn’t had time to shave. But it suited him. It suited the curls that were desperately fighting against the product in his hair. It suited his torn jeans and ratty tee-shirt and the worn leather jacket he wore over it.

He looked at Finn, bit his lip, and smirked, and that suited him, too.

Did this guy think he was hot shit?

God, he had to, wearing that fucking jacket in the sweltering bar. Even Finn was sweating, and he wasn’t stuck under those stage lights.

“Hey guys. We’re Black Squadron.” Poe spoke into the mic, grinning at the cheers that he received in response. (Damn it. He almost _certainly_ thought he was hot shit.) “Thanks for coming out to see us tonight. We’ll do our best to blow your faces off.”

And then, before pulling the guitar strap over his head, Poe shimmied out of his jacket and tossed it over the speaker—directly above Finn and Rose. His forearms were now bare, making it quite easy for Finn to get a glimpse of tattoos peeking out from beneath the tee-shirt sleeves.

Snap gave a count-off, and they jumped into the first song.

Damn. No wonder they didn’t want to look for another guitarist.

(Yes, Poe definitely thought he was hot shit.

But Finn found that he didn’t really have much reason to disagree.)

* * *

Rose pulled Finn out of the crowd and out the back door almost as soon as they could move from their place by the stage. Black Squadron were already at their cars in the lot out back, putting their instruments away, laughing and smoking together.

Nearly as soon as Jess spotted Rose, she stopped loading her kit into her trunk. In fact, Finn noticed the way the cymbals crashed just a _little_ too loud in their bag as they dropped into the car.

Good for Rose.

“That was the best I’ve heard you yet!” Rose said eagerly as they drew nearer.

Jess grinned, pulling Rose into a hug and giving her a quick kiss. “Thank you. We were all in top form tonight, for sure. Not least of which because this nerd nailed his exam tonight and was over the moon about it.” She nodded toward Poe as she spoke. He had picked up the job of loading the drumset when Jess froze, but he faltered at her words.

He glanced between Rose and Finn, rushing to say, “It was-- she makes it sound like a bigger deal than it is.”

“Yes, that might be true,” Jess acknowledged. “But I’m exaggerating based on how _he_ was talking about it, I promise.”

Poe sighed and whispered, “She’s so mean to me,” to Rose. Finn didn’t miss the way the guitarist’s eyes barely flicked toward him before looking back to Rose. Raising his voice, he added, “Are you going to introduce me to your friend?”

For her part, Rose played it quite cool. “Oh, yeah, sorry Poe. This is my friend Finn. We go to school together, and when I told him I was going to see a ska band tonight, he just about _insisted_ that he had to come.”

“Oh yeah?” Poe’s eyes shone as he looked at Finn. “You like ska, Finn?”

And Finn, even knowing that he was going to receive a ton of shit for it later, nodded and blurted, “Love it. And you guys were really great. Really, really great.”

To anyone else, it might have sounded like Rose was clearing her throat, but Finn knew that she was actually just trying to hold back a laugh. _Jesus_ he was an idiot.

Poe’s smile was soft and sincere and not at all colored by an “I think I’m hot shit” attitude when he said, “Thanks. It pays the bills, I guess.” Almost at once, he flinched. “Sorry, what an asshole thing to say. I’m not great with the compliments, let me try again.” He cleared his throat. “I’m really glad you liked our set, Finn. Now please tell me about what you’re studying so that I can quit blushing.”

Honestly, Finn was something of a fan of the blushing.

But he started talking anyway. Finn leaned against the van and Poe sat down on the edge of the trunk, looking up at Finn intently. Hooked on his every word.


End file.
